SparkNotes: Hard Times: Analysis of Major Characters Analysis of Major Characters Themes, Motifs & Symbols Thomas Gradgrind Thomas Gradgrind is the first character we meet in Hard Times, and one of the central figures through whom Dickens weaves a web of intricately connected plotlines and characters. Dickens introduces us to this character with a description of his most central feature: his mechanized, monotone attitude and appearance. The opening scene in the novel describes Mr. Gradgrind’s speech to a group of young students, and it is appropriate that Gradgrind physically embodies the dry, hard facts that he crams into his students’ heads. The narrator calls attention to Gradgrind’s “square coat, square legs, square shoulders,” all of which suggest Gradgrind’s unrelenting rigidity. In the first few chapters of the novel, Mr. Gradgrind expounds his philosophy of calculating, rational self-interest. He believes that human nature can be governed by completely rational rules, and he is “ready to weigh and measure any parcel of human nature, and tell you what it comes to.” This philosophy has brought Mr. Gradgrind much financial and social success.

He has made his fortune as a hardware merchant, a trade that, appropriately, deals in hard, material reality. Later, he becomes a Member of Parliament, a position that allows him to indulge his interest in tabulating data about the people of England. Although he is not a factory owner, Mr. Gradgrind evinces the spirit of the Industrial Revolution insofar as he treats people like machines that can be reduced to a number of scientific principles. While the narrator’s tone toward him is initially mocking and ironic, Gradgrind undergoes a significant change in the course of the novel, thereby earning the narrator’s sympathy. When Louisa confesses that she feels something important is missing in her life and that she is desperately unhappy with her marriage, Gradgrind begins to realize that his system of education may not be perfect. This intuition is confirmed when he learns that Tom has robbed Bounderby’s bank.

Faced with these failures of his system, Gradgrind admits, “The ground on which I stand has ceased to be solid under my feet.” His children’s problems teach him to feel love and sorrow, and Gradgrind becomes a wiser and humbler man, ultimately “making his facts and figures subservient to Faith, Hope and Charity.” Louisa Gradgrind Although Louisa is the novel’s principal female character, she is distinctive from the novel’s other women, particularly her foils, Sissy and Rachael. While these other two embody the Victorian ideal of femininity—sensitivity, compassion, and gentleness—Louisa’s education has prevented her from developing such traits. Instead, Louisa is silent, cold, and seemingly unfeeling. However, Dickens may not be implying that Louisa is really unfeeling, but rather that she simply does not know how to recognize and express her emotions. For instance, when her father tries to convince her that it would be rational for her to marry Bounderby, Louisa looks out of the window at the factory chimneys and observes: “There seems to be nothing there but languid and monotonous smoke.

Yet when the night comes, Fire bursts out.” Unable to convey the tumultuous feelings that lie beneath her own languid and monotonous exterior, Louisa can only state a fact about her surroundings. Yet this fact, by analogy, also describes the emotions repressed within her. Even though she does not conform to the Victorian ideals of femininity, Louisa does her best to be a model daughter, wife, and sister. Her decision to return to her father’s house rather than elope with Harthouse demonstrates that while she may be unfeeling, she does not lack virtue. Indeed, Louisa, though unemotional, still has the ability to recognize goodness and distinguish between right and wrong, even when it does not fall within the strict rubric of her father’s teachings. While at first Louisa lacks the ability to understand and function within the gray matter of emotions, she can at least recognize that they exist and are more powerful than her father or Bounderby believe, even without any factual basis. Moreover, under Sissy’s guidance, Louisa shows great promise in learning to express her feelings.

Similarly, through her acquaintance with Rachael and Stephen, Louisa learns to respond charitably to suffering and to not view suffering simply as a temporary state that is easily overcome by effort, as her father and Bounderby do. Josiah Bounderby Although he is Mr. Gradgrind’s best friend, Josiah Bounderby is more interested in money and power than in facts. Indeed, he is himself a fiction, or a fraud. Bounderby’s inflated sense of pride is illustrated by his oft-repeated declaration, “I am Josiah Bounderby of Coketown.” This statement generally prefaces the story of Bounderby’s childhood poverty and suffering, a story designed to impress its listeners with a sense of the young Josiah Bounderby’s determination and self-discipline. However, Dickens explodes the myth of the self-made man when Bounderby’s mother, Mrs. Pegler, reveals that her son had a decent, loving childhood and a good education, and that he was not abandoned, after all. Bounderby’s attitude represents the social changes created by industrialization and capitalism.

Whereas birth or bloodline formerly determined the social hierarchy, in an industrialized, capitalist society, wealth determines who holds the most power. Thus, Bounderby takes great delight in the fact that Mrs. Sparsit, an aristocrat who has fallen on hard times, has become his servant, while his own ambition has enabled him to rise from humble beginnings to become the wealthy owner of a factory and a bank. However, in depicting Bounderby, the capitalist, as a coarse, vain, self-interested hypocrite, Dickens implies that Bounderby uses his wealth and power irresponsibly, contributing to the muddled relations between rich and poor, especially in his treatment of Stephen after the Hands cast Stephen out to form a union. Stephen Blackpool Stephen Blackpool is introduced after we have met the Gradgrind family and Bounderby, and Blackpool provides a stark contrast to these earlier characters. One of the Hands in Bounderby’s factory, Stephen lives a life of drudgery and poverty. In spite of the hardships of his daily toil, Stephen strives to maintain his honesty, integrity, faith, and compassion.

Stephen is an important character not only because his poverty and virtue contrast with Bounderby’s wealth and self-interest, but also because he finds himself in the midst of a labor dispute that illustrates the strained relations between rich and poor. Stephen is the only Hand who refuses to join a workers’ union: he believes that striking is not the best way to improve relations between factory owners and employees, and he also wants to earn an honest living. As a result, he is cast out of the workers’ group. However, he also refuses to spy on his fellow workers for Bounderby, who consequently sends him away. Both groups, rich and poor, respond in the same self-interested, backstabbing way. As Rachael explains, Stephen ends up with the “masters against him on one hand, the men against him on the other, he only wantin’ to work hard in peace, and do what he felt right.” Through Stephen, Dickens suggests that industrialization threatens to compromise both the employee’s and employer’s moral integrity, thereby creating a social muddle to which there is no easy solution. Through his efforts to resist the moral corruption on all sides, Stephen becomes a martyr, or Christ figure, ultimately dying for Tom’s crime.

When he falls into a mine shaft on his way back to Coketown to clear his name of the charge of robbing Bounderby’s bank, Stephen comforts himself by gazing at a particularly bright star that seems to shine on him in his “pain and trouble.” This star not only represents the ideals of virtue for which Stephen strives, but also the happiness and tranquility that is lacking in his troubled life. Moreover, his ability to find comfort in the star illustrates the importance of imagination, which enables him to escape the cold, hard facts of his miserable existence. More Help Character Study of Stephen Blackpool From the Novel Hard Times. - GCSE English - Marked by Teachers.com Character Study of Stephen Blackpool From the Novel Hard Times. Extracts from this document... Introduction CHARACTER STUDY OF STEPHENBLACKPOOL FROM THE NOVEL HARD TIMES Dear colleges, to sum up Mr Blackpool in two words with all seriousness, is to say that he is a "tragedy" and a "born loser". From the many experiences Stephen Blackpool undergoes, I only make mention of the following: he is stuck in an unfortunate marriage, he is a failure at work, he is bad judge and he dies after falling into a mine.

Dickens introduces Blackpool into the novel in the tenth chapter. He is one of those thousands of workers living in Coketown. Though only forty years old he is, as Dickens says, already an old man. He is seen outside waiting outside the works for his friend, Rachael, he likes to walk her home despite the gossiping neighbors, after which he makes his way to his lodgings. When he arrives there, he is surprised by the presence of his wife "a disabled, drunken creature who constantly leaves him and is unfaithful to him. This former latter introduced sub-plot of the relationship between Rachael and Stephen can be a device used by Dickens in order to add interest to the novel. ...read more. Middle Blackpool is not bullied into volunteering opinions about the union; on the contrary, he firmly defends the sincerity of most of its members. Stephen does not, in fact, address his remarks to Bounderby but to Louisa, in whose face he seems to find some sympathy. This link between Louisa from one strand of the story and Stephen from another is what we call, my dear colleagues a plotting device. For it is through that link that Tom can become connected with Blackpool and thus carry his own plans forward!

During this meeting, Bounderby asks him to explain what the workers have to complain about. Stephen points out that there seems no purpose in their lives. They are born to work in terrible conditions, and then just to die. They are not encouraged to have any hopes or aspirations. In anger, Bounderby says he will crush any threat of rebellion by transporting Slackbridge and his kind as convicts. Blackpool replies that this kind of action will not solve the underlying problems. He insists that both parties must be prepared to meet, to compromise and thus reach agreement. They must not maintain their extreme, opposing positions. ...read more. Conclusion Until Chapter four of Book The Third, Tom's plan is operating smoothly and Bounderby is thinking that Stephen does the robbery. So by now, my colleges Blackpool experiences injustice and industrialization, which are two themes strongly highlighted by the novel. In the next chapter, which is five Blackpool's whereabouts are still not known Rachael fears he may have been murdered. Sissy suggests that he may have fallen ill on his way back, but Rachel says all possibilities have been exhausted. Colleagues, Blackpool is used here as literary device i.e.

to create suspense in the reader as what is the fate of Stephen Blackpool now. In the following chapter Sissy and Rachael go for a walk seven miles away from Coketown. They are in a green countryside, which is filled with mines, and it is indeed one of these pits into which Blackpool has fallen. Sissy finds his hat lying on the ground. This causes a search party to find Stephen and once he is found he has a chance to speak to Rachael, Louisa and Thomas Grandgrind. He still insists that it is "aw a muddle", but that he has become resigned to that. He asks Grandgrind to clear his name about the robbery, and , holding Rachael's hand, he dies. ...read more. The above preview is unformatted text This student written piece of work is one of many that can be found in our GCSE Hard Times section. Found what you're looking for?

Start learning 29% faster today 150,000+ documents available Stephen Blackpool: My favourite Charles Dickens character - Telegraph Charles Dickens Stephen Blackpool: My favourite Charles Dickens character Stephen Blackpool - from Hard Times, is one of Charles Dickens's tragic characters and is the tenth in the Telegraph pick of the best Charles Dickens characters. Image 1 of 3 An illustration of 'Stephen Blackpool recovered from the Old Hell Shaft', used in a Victorian edition of Charles Dickens's 'Hard Times'. Photo: Alamy Hard Times by Charles Dickens was first published in 1854. By Dominic Cavendish , Theatre Critic 7:00AM GMT 10 Feb 2012 Follow My Favourite Charles Dickens character: Stephen Blackpool from Hard Times (1854) He’s known as “Old Stephen”. He’s not old, he’s only forty but he has become careworn from a life of constant toil as a power-loom weaver in Coketown and a 19-year-long marriage to a woman who, through drink and idleness, has become a hellish wraith.

When Charles Dickens picks him out for our attention among the crowd of “Hands” who work the mills, he has reached a state of suicidal desperation. Can he get divorced? No, his mighty boss Bounderby assures him - that’s not for the likes of him. In the end, the poor man’s certain destruction is woven into the fabric of his own honest integrity: unable to fall in-step with the mill’s industrial agitators, yet speaking too clearly his mind to Bounderby (at the latter’s own insistence) about the blatant injustices his fellow-men face, he is first ostracised, then sacked - and swiftly ends up a broken and dying man, at the bottom of a waste-pit, Hell’s Shaft, having been framed for a robbery. There’s nothing showily characterful about Stephen Blackpool - what I love about him is his quiet dignity. There’s a thoughtfulness and tenderness etched into this archetypically stooped figure that lend him a hard-won individuality; even his plain, inarticulate utterances (“Awlus a muddle” is his refrain) have the simple beat of truth. He’s a tiny, insignificant cog in a vast, grinding machine.

When he’s inevitably crushed, on it grinds - but you remember his sweet-natured gleam and can’t help shedding a tear at his passing. The full series of 'My favourite Charles Dickens character' is: Related Articles Lit Craze!: STEPHEN BLACKPOOL - Character Analysis Monday, February 28, 2011 STEPHEN BLACKPOOL - Character Analysis Blackpool himself is a further experiment in the direction of the fully achieved emblematicism of A Tale of Two Cities. In other words, he stands for a situation, a class, a predicament, without having to exist for us in quite the same way as Louisa or Sissy exist for us. We must avoid any temptation to condemn him as unreal, and recognize a perfectly valid literary mode. Dickens is doing something difficult and unprecedented here; he is creating a character real by the standards of Victorian realism, but capable of functioning as a symbolic, almost an abstract term in an argument. Geoffrey Thurley, The Dickens Myth, 1976 There are so many things that Dickens could have done with Stephen.

More could have been made of the mine-shaft down which he falls: it ought to have been fenced in after it had been finished with, just as, when in use, its firedamp and propensity towards explosion could have been countered with protective devices: but at no point does Dickens erect it into a social indictment. More could have been made of Stephen's scanty income and conditions of labour at the mill. It is significant that never once in this industrial novel does Dickens show us the day to day life of men in a factory. It would take more than a visit to Preston or Hanley to dramatize this in any depth of detail; yet some such undertaking ought to have been at the heart of the book. Stephen, in fact, is not dramatized as archetypal working man so much as a personification of a victim; not a social victim, either, but the victim of a broken-down marriage. Philip Hobsbaum, A Reader's Guide to Charles Dickens, 1972 Posted by "Hard Times" Reviews & Ratings - IMDb IMDb trailers and videos full cast and crew trivia official sites memorable quotes Overview 14 out of 16 people found the following review useful: One of the best Dickens adaptations ever.

from London 28 April 2004 This little known version of Hard Times is a magnificent adaptation of Dickens' novel about the life of a Victorian Family, set in a grim, dark place in the north of England called Coketown. The stellar cast, in particular Alan Bates and Bob Peck, get to the heart of Dickens intentions. There is none of the sanitisation you usually get with Dickens adaptations, this is a full blooded, and sometimes angry, production. The whole point of Dickens writing was to show people the plight of the poor working classes, the underclass, the people forced to live in grinding poverty and suffer starvation, disease and unimaginable squalor. People who had no choice but to work in factories and mills for incredibly long hours, while the mill and factory owners grew rich at their expense. People who died in terrible accidents at work because they were considered expendable and the machines were never allowed to stop. This production captures some of these intended messages perfectly. But in nearly all Dickens' works there are moments of great humour to lighten the darkness and in Hard Times the Slearys of the circus bring a smile or two.

This film was originally made for the English syllabus in UK schools by the BBC so it may not be easy to find, but if you like your Dickens raw and honest, you should track it down. Was the above review useful to you? 12 out of 13 people found the following review useful: Stripped down Dickens from Somerset, England 2 May 2004 When announced as made by 'BBC Schools', a low cost production is expected. And the sparse sets and Coketown streets are indeed very basic. But this is more than compensated for by the quality of the cast. Bob Peck and Alan Bates lead a team of superb actors, who drive the story along, and provide the character so essential to Dickens through a glance or a gesture, in what is a very stripped down and shortened version of Dickens' classic novel. Inevitably a lot of Dickens' complexity is lost, and the effect of its abridgement leads to a rather jerky approach, with abrupt shifts of time and scene. But overall this is a great success, substituting character development for fast-moving action. It is a tribute to the BBC's commitment (ten years ago) to quality educational films. Was the above review useful to you?

10 out of 13 people found the following review useful: Trouble at t'mill, squire. 25 October 2006 *** This review may contain spoilers *** I have mixed feelings about screen adaptations of classic novels and plays. On the one hand, they serve as a 'crib sheet' for students (and George Costanza types) who are too lazy to read the original books. Also, they cheat viewers out of the experience of the prose by the original author, in this case Dickens. On the other hand, at least these film and TV adaptations make great literary works accessible to couch-spuds who otherwise would never experience them at all. SPOILERS THROUGHOUT. This BBC Schools production of Dickens's 'Hard Times' necessarily abridges the text, even though this was by far the shortest of Dickens's novels. As usual for Auntie Beeb, the period detail here is (mostly) perfect, although it would have been more realistically Victorian if some of the actors had bad teeth. and if the factory hands were not so well-fed.

Mister Sleary's circus is only briefly seen, yet the shots of the circus fixtures look more like a 20th-century American circus than anything of Dickens's place and time. Considering the theme of this novel, it would have been nice to see a few shots of mills and smokestacks. I was intrigued by the changes made here. In Dickens's novel, two of the major characters had unfortunate speech patterns that made their dialogue distressing to read on the page: the circus owner Mr Sleary had an erratic lisp, and the falsely-accused millhand Stephen Blackpool spoke with an 'eeh, bah gum' accent reminiscent of George Formby. Fortunately, in this adaptation, the lisp is lost, and Blackpool's 'oop North' dialect is greatly toned down. In Dickens's original novel, after young Tom Gradgrind embezzles £150 from Bounderby's bank, he hides in Sleary's circus ... where the circus folk conceal him by disguising him in blackface. I found this detail upsetting, partly because of its racism but also because blackface make-up (even without the racial implications) is physically disgusting to look at.

For this television adaptation of Dickens's novel, it would have made sense to disguise Tom in the white Auguste make-up that most clowns in Victorian England wore. Instead, he is kitted out with a big red nose and a Weary Willie make-up which are decidedly anachronistic -- he looks like Emmett Kelly -- but definitely preferable to blackface. Another nitpick: in an earlier sequence, the actor who plays Tom Gradgrind is seen writing left-handed ... but surely Tom's Victorian schoolmaster father would have 'cured' him of that tendency! One other change in this adaptation annoyed me very much, the more so because it was gratuitous. Although Tom's father, the schoolmaster Thomas Gradgrind, is often regarded as the villain of 'Hard Times', that perception is incorrect: Josiah Bounderby (well-played here by Alan Bates) is the principal villain; Gradgrind is more like Ebenezer Scrooge in that he sees the error of his ways, repents and reforms. In Dickens's novel, Gradgrind stands for Parliament and is elected, but Dickens pointedly never identifies Gradgrind's political affiliation. In this BBC production, Gradgrind is explicitly identified as a Tory.

Further, in the climactic scene, when Gradgrind tries to save his son from gaol by appealing to Bitzer's compassion, Bitzer taunts Gradgrind for his 'conservative philosophy'. That adjective 'conservative' was not there when Dickens wrote this scene! It's clear that some liberal at the BBC has decided to score a few points against the Conservative party with some cheap shots that really don't belong in this otherwise splendid production. As a rates-payer, I deeply resent that my licence fee goes to support propaganda which do not reflect my own political beliefs ... nor those of Dickens, I might add. It's because of that gratuitous politicking that I'll rate this production one point short of a perfect score: 9 out of 10. Was the above review useful to you? 9 out of 12 people found the following review useful: Excellent adaptation of a classic novel from British Columbia, Canada 2 July 2001 Made for British schools in 1994, this BBC version of HARD TIMES eschews the usual fancy costumes and elaborate sets of most BBC 'classics' and gets down to the story, focussing on the characters and their sometimes tragic lives and decisions.

Don't let its origins put you off: this version boasts a cast most big budget films would kill for: Alan Bates, Richard E. Grant, Harriet Walter, Bill Paterson, and the late, great Bob Peck, magnificent as Gradgrind. Anyone tired of the respectful, white-glove treatment classic novels are usually given on TV will find this a refreshing change of pace: angry and passionate and bleak, with flashes of humour and humanity. Was the above review useful to you? 10 out of 16 people found the following review useful: Star Power Isn't Enough Author: tonstant viewer 25 October 2007 Bob Peck, Alan Bates, Richard E. Grant and Bill Paterson are all actors I admire a great deal. However their best work is elsewhere, and this video is in no way competitive with the 1977 Granada version which is finally out on DVD, and very much worth seeking out. This 1994 version is truncated to the point of incoherence, sort of like reading Classics Illustrated comic books by flashes of lightning. None of the actors can survive the frenetic pace, with many scenes limited to just two lines of dialog.

Characters can't be created in this kind of a rush, just sketched in, with Peck and Grant valiantly approximating real performances, Bates relying on tics and tricks, and Paterson actively bad. But I don't think it's really their fault. The less-well known but far superior Granada version was adapted by Arthur Hopcraft and directed by John Irvin. Patrick Allen and Timothy West are iconic in their stovepipe hats as Gradgrind and Bounderby, Edward Fox gives a career-defining performance as Harthouse, and Alan Dobie is dry and restrained as Blackpool. Even Rosalie Crutchley as Mrs. Sparsit wins on points over the later version's scene-stealing Dilys Laye. Skip this one and find the earlier Irvin-Granada version - you won't be disappointed. Was the above review useful to you?

5 out of 7 people found the following review useful: Excellent adaptation for schools from United Kingdom 13 January 2006 A basic adaptation of 'Hard Times' is lifted above the ordinary by the impressive cast - Bob Peck as Gradgrind, Alan Bates as Bounderby, Dilys Laye as Mrs Sparsit, Richard E Grant as Harthouse, Bill Paterson as Stephen Blackpool, and Harriet Walter as Rachel. Of course the story is somewhat compacted in a running time not much over an hour and a half, but the omissions are not that puzzling and the story is left easy to follow. The quality of the acting and the script mean that this adaptation isn't taking its young audience for granted. Now available as part of a DVD set of Dickens' works, and well worth buying. Was the above review useful to you? Quite good though there are better Dickens adaptations around from United Kingdom 24 September 2013 This 1994 adaptation of Hard Times does nobly with adapting Dickens in a relatively short length and to make it accessible to younger audiences.

It doesn't quite come off, it does feel 20-30 minutes too short, too many scenes did feel rushed through and skimmed over and Beatie Edney even for someone deliberately cold acts too samey throughout and the constant frowning is overkill. However the costumes and sets are very evocative, not opulent by all means in fact it is a somewhat sparse approach, it succeeds in matching the emphasis on the darker aspects of the book and Dickens without feeling too much. The music has a good deal of atmosphere, while the script is funny, heartfelt and foreboding with some of the Dickenesian spirit present- though some scenes could have had more- and the story while truncated is still compelling and easy to understand. The adaptation is well-directed and also very well-acted. Bob Peck, gruff yet repentant towards the end) was the standout with the (I feel) most interesting and most developed character. Alan Bates acts with realism and professionalism, while Richard E. Grant is dashing and Dilys Laye is a real scene-stealer. In fact all the acting is good, with the only real source of reservation being Edney.

Overall, not ideal for "purists" but while far from perfect on its own this adaptation is quite good. 7/10 Bethany Cox Was the above review useful to you? 6 out of 13 people found the following review useful: Just weird and flat from United States 21 December 2006 I was very disappointed when I purchased this DVD of "Hard Times" by Dickens. I cannot recommend it as a Dickens fan and as someone who is often blessed to see mostly Andrew Davies Adaptations of classic literature for the BBC. The music is creepy like a B movie horror flick, the acting is stiff, the lighting is horrible , and it is all too obvious that the scenes were mostly filmed in badly propped studio spaces. I was especially upset that I disliked the movie since it was filled with so many of my favorite actors such as Alan Bates and Richard E Grant. The actor who played Gradgrind gave the only acceptable performance in my eyes. The only consolation was that the short story TV classic "The Signalman" (adapted by Davies!) was added to fill the end of the Disk. Was the above review useful to you?

3 out of 9 people found the following review useful: 'A noodle is a noodle. And you're A NOODLE' *** This review may contain spoilers *** I love this adaptation. Perfectly portrayed. The dutch subtitles really set it apart for me. Favorite subtitle; 'Heer, u kunt...' Favourite spoken words; 'Louisa', 'but you're so young Louisa', 'Louisa', 'Louisa', 'I'm just a girl from the circus'/ 'just a girl from the circus eh?' {Mr Harthouse cups thithy's fathe to her shock and dismay. In response to this she scurries out of the room leaving Harthouse (a)musing to himself}, 'Please don't bite my nose off' / 'I cannot madam! It is too big' Favourite Character; Mrs Bounderby (not 'loo' of course but Mr Bounderby's mama) Nominations for best death scene; Steven Blackpool and Mr Bounderby- yet I will award this to Bounders for his shocking portrayal of biting the nugget (or should i say nose). FACT; best film ever! My sides, (bit)sir, are officially SPLIT!

xoxoxoxoxo p.s- What are your opinions on this rare Jem (Harthouse)? Was the above review useful to you? 2 out of 9 people found the following review useful: Very little merit... from United States 28 June 2007 This film was terribly drab. The setting was that of great oppressive surroundings, and it was hard not to feel great pity for the young children portrayed in this film. The lighting, the camera work, the directing was mediocre at best. The acting was decent, as some actors/actresses portrayed their character well, but a few scenes were melodramatic. I know the book is a reflection of the darker side of life, but this was just too much in the shadows. I watched this mostly because I had seen "Our Mutual Friend" and thought I would enjoy this work as well. I was greatly mistaken. I would never view this again, and I hope that I can forget the time that I did! Was the above review useful to you? Page 1 of 2: Characterization in Dickens' Hard Times 2 June, 1995 Characterization in Dickens' Hard Times A firm character basis is the foundation upon which any good novel is built.

For an allegorical novel, Dickens' has a surprisingly complex character foundation. The characters in Hard Times have both the simplistic characteristics of a character developed for allegorical purposes, as well as the intricate qualities of "real" people. These characters think and feel like we do and react to their situations in the same way that most of us would. These attributes are what give the characters life and allow us to relate to their decisions. Three characters in Hard Times; James Harthouse, Josiah Bounderby and Stephen Blackpool, exemplify this realistic quality and each is representative of a different social division. These divisions are the upper, middle and lower class. Each class, because of social interaction or absence of the same, creates different dilemmas. The upper-class, as holds true in real-life, is the smallest of the three categories and, consequently, has its own unique problems. James Harthouse, a characteristic member of the upper-class, comes to Coketown to search for something else to bide his time with. As an aristocratic member of society, one can become stuck in the furrows of life when hours of daily labor is not a part of that person's regimen.

Here is an example of some of the extravagant escapades that Harthouse embarks on, yet still finds life tedious: Now, this gentleman had a younge r brother of still better appearance than himself, who had tried life as a Coronet of Dragoons, and found it a bore; and had afterwards tried it in the train of an English minister abroad, and found it a bore; and had then strolled to Jerusalem, and got bored there; and had then gone yachting about the world, and got bored everywhere (Dickens 95). It is these types of exploits that show us his lax, upper-class attitude toward life and how easy it is for someone in this position to become bored when eight or ten hours of work are not necessary to sustain oneself. Although most of us cannot directly relate to his problems, we can see how our occupations "occupy" our time and a lack thereof would bring out similar human characteristics. Harthouse is also very manipulative. He toys with people's emotions and disregards their feelings in favor of his own fancy. These actions probably stem from his need for accomplishment, a need which he satisfies by manipulating people wherever he sees the opportunity.

A perfect example is shown in the following, where Harthouse is trying to find some leverage to gain Louisa's fancy: 'Is there nothing,' he thought, glancing at her as she sat at the head of the table, where her youthful figure, small and slight, but very graceful looked as pretty as it looked misplaced; 'is there nothing that will move that face?' Yes! By Jupiter, there was something, and here it was, in an unexpected shape. Tom appeared. She changed as the door opened, and broke into a beaming smile... 'Ay, ay?' thought the visitor. 'This whelp is the only creature she cares for (Dickens 100). Harthouse then goes on to make friends with the "whelp" in order to be seen favorably by Louisa. Tom is his leverage. It is these types of qualities that make Harthouse a complex, believable character. Josiah Bounderby exhibits many qualities which make him believable. First of all, Bounderby tries fervently to uphold his image. As a member of the middle-class, he leads everyone to believe that he worked very hard to achieve his position as a wealthy factory owner.

Any champion of the middle-class works hard to get where he is, and works hard to stay there. He gets to enjoy the fruits of his labor, yet does not have enough freetime to become bored with life. His plight, as he presents it, follows: ' I hadn't a shoe to my foot. As to a stoc king, I didn't know such a thing by name. I passed the day in a ditch, and t he night in a pigsty. ... 'I was born with inflammation of the lungs, and of everything else, I believe, that was capable of inflammation.' ... ' How I fought through it, I don't know,' said Bounderby. 'I was determined, I suppose. I have been a determined character in later life and I suppose I was then. Here I am Mrs. Gradgrind, anyhow, and nobody to thank for my being here, but myself' (Dickens 37). Bounderby maintains that he fought his way, tooth and nail, to gain his present position. This is a very admirable accomplishment. Everyone takes Bounderby's story for the gospel until his Mother, Mrs. Pegler, uncovers his scheme.

She did not abandon him, as he claimed, and he did not work his way up from obscurity. This is what makes Bounderby a believable character. Acceptance is a vital human quality, but admiration is the most sought after. If Bounderby goes by the truth, then he gains acceptance society. If, however, he concocts this story about fighting his way up from a ditch, then he gains the admiration of his peers. Stephen Blackpool is the martyr of the lower-class. We can relate the most to Stephen as a character because he holds the most admirable human qualities. As a worker in Bounderby's factory, Stephen must work very hard to maintain himself. He sees that despite the poor conditions in the factories, the union is not a very viable option because the negotiator, Slackbridge, as his name suggests, is a very poor "bridge" between the workers and the owners. Because he does not support the union, his peers reject him. We can easily relate to his isolated feeling and sympathize with him. Stephen is also a victim of his social class. He is in love with Rachel but cannot be with her because he is married to a woman who left him years before.

He also cannot divorce her because he cannot afford to. This adds the emotional complexity of something unattainable to Stephen's character, making him even more believable as a character. Dickens' characters in Hard Times are more than just caricatures for an allegorical novel on the present state of England. They are real, thinking, breathing, feeling people who are driven by impulse, desire and acceptance. Dickens' use of believable characters makes his novel more realistic and therefore more effective. If Dickens had chosen to write his novel using shallow, "cartoon-like" characters, it would be immediately dismissed as a social commentary and would not be hailed for its novel-like qualities. Only when a literary work is appreciated on many levels can it truly be effective in any one area. Works Cited The character of Stephen Blackpool in Hard Times from LitCharts | The creators of SparkNotes Rachael A poor worker at Mr. Bounderby's factory, Stephen is a victim both of the industrial system and of society's restrictions on marriage. His face and body are much aged because of the grueling work he must do every day at the factory, and his heart is aged ever since his wife became a drunken prostitute and left him, occasionally returning for money.

He has longed ceased to love her, and loves a gentle, kind woman named Rachael in her stead, but he cannot marry Rachael because of his preexisting marriage. His fellow workers shun him when he refuses to join the union, and Bounderby fires him after Stephen refuses to give him details about the union that his fellow workers are forming. Tom furthermore frames him in the Bank robbery, and he dies tragically, on his way back to defend his good name. Stephen Blackpool Quotes in Hard Times The Hard Times quotes below are all either spoken by Stephen Blackpool or refer to Stephen Blackpool. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one: ). Note: all page and citation info for the quotes below refers to the Dover Publications edition of Hard Times published in 2001. Book 1, Chapter 10 Quotes Stephen looked older, but he had had a hard life.

It is said that every life has its roses and thorns; there seemed, however, to have been a misadventure or mistake in Stephen's case, whereby somebody else had become possessed of his roses, and he had become possessed of the same somebody else's thorns in addition to his own. Related Characters: Stephen Blackpool Download it! Stephen Blackpool Character Timeline in Hard Times The timeline below shows where the character Stephen Blackpool appears in Hard Times. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance. Book 1, Chapter 10 Stephen Blackpool, a worker or a "hand" at Mr. Bounderby's factory, is waiting for a woman... (full context) Book 1, Chapter 11 After a morning of tiring work with hundreds of other hands in the factory, Stephen pays a visit to the factory owner, Mr. Bounderby. Bounderby is home, eating a rich... (full context) Stephen asks him if there is anything he can do to dissolve his unhappy marriage. Bounderby... (full context) Book 1, Chapter 12 As Stephen is walking away from Bounderby's house, he runs into an old, neatly-dressed woman who closely...

(full context) As the day ends and Stephen finishes his shift, he thinks longingly of Rachael and how his unhappiness would disappear if... (full context) Book 1, Chapter 13 Upon returning home in the rain after his shift, Stephen finds that Rachael is there, caring for his wife. Rachael mentions that this is a... (full context) ...his sick wife sitting up in bed, attempting to end her life by poisoning herself. Stephen freezes, but Rachael snatches the poison away from her just in time. The sick woman... (full context) Book 2, Chapter 4 ...insists they must form a union to protect themselves from the manufacturers. The men agree. Stephen however, for a mysterious reason he won't name, says he cannot go along with them... (full context) ...as punishment for not joining the union. And so not a single man speaks to Stephen for four days, until Bitzer comes up to him and asks him to accompany him... (full context) Book 2, Chapter 5 Stephen joins Mr. Bounderby, Louisa, Tom, and Mr. Harthouse in the Bounderbys' drawing room. Bounderby demands...

(full context) Book 2, Chapter 6 Stephen steps out of Mr. Bounderby's house into the dark evening, and runs into Rachael and... (full context) ...Tom is not here of his own choosing. Louisa is shocked by the poverty of Stephen's rooms. She then does what she had come to do: offer Stephen some money to... (full context) Tom then does something very unusual: he pulls Stephen aside into a corner, and tells him (in a whisper so no one can hear)... (full context) In accordance with Tom's request, Stephen hangs around the Bank for about an hour every night before he leaves town. Nothing... (full context) Book 2, Chapter 8 ...both instantly suspect Tom, though neither voices it. Mr. Bounderby, Mrs. Sparsit, and Bitzer suspect Stephen Blackpool, who was observed lurking around the Bank multiple times at night for no apparent... (full context) ...he's not hiding anything. He hints that Louisa should mention neither the visit they paid Stephen, Rachael, and the old woman, nor the conversation that Tom had with Stephen that night....

(full context) Book 2, Chapter 10 ...spies on through a window but can't overhear, Mr. Harthouse manages to persuade Louisa that Stephen, whom she thought to be a just man, may very well have succumbed to the... (full context) Book 3, Chapter 4 ...robber of Bounderby's bank has not been found. Due to Mrs. Sparsit's and Bitzer's testimony, Stephen is the main suspect and his picture is put up on "WANTED" signs all over... (full context) ...Rachael call on them. This is no courtesy call: Rachael has been trying to prove Stephen's innocence to Mr. Bounderby, but Tom refuses to acknowledge that he was with Louisa, Stephen,... (full context) Book 3, Chapter 5 Stephen still doesn't come. Sissy begins to visit Rachael in her home every day, trying to... (full context) ...Mr. Bounderby's shadow, and doesn't visit Louisa. Louisa begins to worry that maybe Tom killed Stephen.

(full context) Book 3, Chapter 6 ...spend some quiet time, and as they are walking around, Rachael, to her horror, spots Stephen's hat lying abandoned on the ground. A few more steps forward, and Sissy nearly falls... (full context) Book 3, Chapter 7 Tom, however, has mysteriously disappeared. As Stephen gave his last instructions to Mr. Gradgrind, Sissy whispered something in Tom's ear, and he... (full context) Book 3, Chapter 9 ...the rest of her days serenely but sadly working in the factory, taking care of Stephen's drunken wife when she comes back to town. Louisa grows gentler and humbler and finds... (full context) Cite This Page Choose citation style: Kustner, Gabriella. "Hard Times Characters: Stephen Blackpool." LitCharts. LitCharts LLC, 17 Nov 2013. Web. 18 Jan 2017. Kustner, Gabriella. "Hard Times Characters: Stephen Blackpool." LitCharts. LitCharts LLC, 17 Nov 2013. Web. 18 Jan 2017. Kustner, Gabriella.

"Hard Times Characters: Stephen Blackpool." LitCharts LLC, November 17, 2013. Retrieved January 18, 2017. Kustner, Gabriella. "Hard Times Characters: Stephen Blackpool." LitCharts LLC, November 17, 2013. Retrieved January 18, 2017. Copy to Clipboard Charles Dickens’ Hard Times: Industrialization, Women, Utilitarianism | Online Homework Help | SchoolWorkHelper Charles Dickens’ Hard Times: Industrialization, Women, Utilitarianism You are here: PDF CHARACTERS Thomas Gradgrind – local teacher and politician, tries hard to exert Utilitarianism and force it on everybody around him Mr. Choakumchild – teacher, teaches children facts and only facts Mr. Josiah Bounderby – rich businessman, banker and salesman, owner of the factory, He has no moral or regard for human suffering, he exploits and humiliates the factory workers Louisa – Mr. Gradgrind’s daughter, her father raised her on facts, married to Bounderby Cecilia (Sissy) Jupe – daughter of a circus performer, adopted by Mr.

Gradgrind, represents the balance between fact and fancy, her story has a happy ending Tom (the Whelp) Gradgrind – Mr. Gradgrind’s son and Louisa’s brother, egoistic and immature, has problems with debt and gambling, ends up alone and away from home Stephen Blackpool – one of the factory workers, he is fair, good and honest, has an alcoholic wife, falsely accused for robbery, ends tragically Mrs. Sparsit – Bounderby’s landlady, used to be very rich, she’s a spy James (Jem) Harthouse – represents fading aristocracy, bored with life, finds Louisa enigmatic and seduces her Bitzer – a product of fact school, only self-interest is important to him INDUSTRIALIZATION In Hard Times Dickens sharply criticizes the poor living conditions of the working class in industrial towns. He depicts life in a fictive industrial town Coketown as a symbol for a typical industrial town in Northern England of that time. It is a place full of exploitation, desperation and oppression. Soot and ash is all over the town; it is a dirty and suffocating place. The workers have low wages and work long hours.

The work begins before sunrise, the production is important and there is no regard for the rights and suffering of the low class. Children in school are taught according to Utilitarianism philosophy – they should accept and live according to facts and facts alone, they are not allowed to fantasize or think for themselves. In Coketown, machines cause great pollution. The industrial workers have no chance of progress in life. The upper-middle class ignores their misery (Bounderby) and denies imagination and creativity (Gradgrind). Utilitarianism exerts mechanization of society and human mind. The character of Sissy Jupe represents the personification of fact vs. fancy conflict, she tries hard to learn facts, but is unable to, she freely thinks and imagines. She is the most stable character because she succeeds to find balance between the two. Dickens points out the flaws and limitation of the newly created industrial society and the necessity of social reform. WOMEN This novel is deeply conservative in its concept of women. The Victorians believed that women embodied the traits of compassion, moral purity and sensitivity; they idealized the redemptive powers of femininity, so in Hard Times we have the female angelic types – Sissy and Rachael.

Sissy is innocent and has the desire to serve because of her belief in humanity. She’s compassionate and tender-hearted, she brings salvation from facts. Because of her goodness she is rewarded with a happy life. Rachael is hard-working, compassionate, morally pure and sensitive. She is a nursemaid to Stephen’s hateful wife; she improves the lives of those around her. Then, there is Louisa. Gradgrind removes the burden of ideal femininity of his daughter but outside her family she’s unable to fulfill the idealized role of mother and wife. Her emotions are dormant and hidden until they burst out in the end, but she gets lost because she doesn’t know how to deal with her emotions. Louisa and Sissy point out the flaws of fact-philosophy. There is also a type of degraded woman embodied in Stephen’s wife. She is monstrous and barely human, has to be kept hidden. Women in this story often see things more clearly than men and remain strong and composed in crisis situation. UTILITARIANISM Utilitarianism is the philosophy that leaves nothing to imagination; everything is to be explained by the help of logic and facts. The goal of every individual should be to receive most pleasure out of life.

Utilitarianism intercedes for utility, well-being and pleasure in life. From the beginning of the novel Dickens introduces us to the utilitarian way of thinking. Gradgrind and Bounderby are the most outstanding representatives of the utilitarian philosophy. Children are taught factual school from the early age (Louisa, Tom, Bitzer). Gradgrind thinks that only facts are important in every situation,e.g. for him love is not the major issue in marriage. Loiusa gets free of the fact school in the end, but cannot stand up to the world of fancy and imagination because she’s taught the opposite all the time. Tom commits every action out of self-interest. At the end of the story, when Loiusa comes desperate to her father, Mr. Gradgrind says that he never knew she was unhappy; he wasn’t able to identify his child’s emotions. Everything he believed in is shattered, but he wants to make it up to Loiusa. The whole system falls apart when Gradgrind loses confidence in it. On the other side, Bounderby keeps a firm belief in the system, so in the beginning and in the end he’s in the same situation (a bachelor), his character doesn’t go through personal development.

He represents the ideology of facts, but himself lives in an illusion of a self-made man. Sissy accepts the situation she found herself in, but never accepts the factual world, she keeps her inner value, she is the mediator between two worlds (fact and fancy). Stephen is the opposite from ideology of facts – he is genuine, driven by feelings and not spoiled by any political or ideological opinions. Stephen/Bounderby represent the ideologies, Sissy/Gradgrind hold them together. In Hard Times, Dickens is subjective and influences on the shaping of the reader’s opinion, he’s against the Utilitarian system, against the egoism and lack of imagination. Related posts:

Question: Stephen Blackpool is a character in which Dickens novel?
Answer: Hard Times